Praise for The Water Boy"From league to league, from country to country, from small towns to big cities, Bob has seen it all! His football tales and football travels are fascinating. Bob Ackles has literally gone all the way!" —Chris Berman, ESPN
"I have known Bobby Ackles since he was the Water Boy. Now he is the Wonder Boy! Bobby Ackles didn’t put the BC Lions on the map once. He put them on the map twice! Bobby has done more for the game of football than anyone I know. And he isn’t stopping yet. Go, Bobby, go!" —Allan Fotheringham, Author
"Bob Ackles is in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. He is also a charter member of the ‘Nice Guys Hall of Fame.’ I’m honored to call Bob a friend. He is one of the most accomplished executives in all of sports and his story will be must reading for any sports fan." —Bill Pollian, President of the Indianapolis Colts
"Bob and Kay Ackles have experienced ultimate highs and lows in every level of professional football in two countries. In the years Bob worked for me both with the Dallas Cowboys and the Miami Dolphins he was a loyal, tireless worker. He was always upbeat and positive. Bob and Kay are wonderful people who have some great stories about their experiences." —Jimmy Johnson, Former Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys
"Bobby Ackles is truly a living legend in British Columbia. He proves that nice guys can win! They don’t make ’em any better than Bobby!" —Jim Pattison, President, the Pattison Group

The Water Boy: From the Sidelines to the Owner's Box: Inside the CFL, the XFL, and the NFL

Sports & Outdoors

MULGREW, Ian

Ackles, Bob

Football (American)

wiley

The Water Boy: From the Sidelines to the Owner's Box: Inside the Cfl, the Xfl, and the NFL

In 1953, Bobby Ackles became the first water boy in the BC Lions Football Club. Today he is the team’s President and CEO. His star rose quickly from the very beginning, taking him from the sidelines to the top job and three Grey Cup championships. An integral member of the Lions’ organization for over 50 years, Bobby Ackles has seen and done it all in the extraordinary world of professional football.
Not only did he go from lowly Water Boy to the executive suite in the CFL, Ackles also spent fifteen years in the NFL--six seasons with the mighty Dallas Cowboys, and then on to the Arizona Cardinals, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Miami Dolphins—and he even served a brief stint in the short-lived XFL as Vice President and General Manager of the Las Vegas Outlaws. As the only man to hold executive positions in all three professional leagues, Ackles offers up a unique perspective on pro football in North America.
The Water Boy is Bob Ackles’ engaging memoir, a candid, personal account of his life and his amazing career in the game of football. From his humble beginnings, personally and professionally, Ackles has risen to become one of the most respected executives in football and in sports in general, both in Canada and the United States.
With veteran journalist Ian Mulgrew, Ackles shares his rich, expansive life openly, with humour and amazing insights into the sport of football and its personalities, his long-running love affair with his wife Kay, his grasp on leadership and running a successful business.
The Water Boy is a fascinating look inside the locker rooms and the owners’ boxes of the football world in North America, and an engaging telling of a life lived to its fullest.

Biographies & Memoirs

According to Forbes magazine,* marijuana is “Canada’s most valuable agricultural product — bigger than wheat, cattle or timber.” Bud Inc. gives us an inside look at this thriving homegrown industry. Although the cultivation and selling of marijuana remains illegal in Canada, it is already big business, especially in British Columbia. Law enforcement officials estimate that the annual wholesale value of B.C. marijuana is now $6 billion, about 5% of the province’s total economy. If these stats are correct, it is B.C.’s largest export. Ontario and Quebec are not far behind. Vancouver journalist Ian Mulgrew has been following the rise of this underground economy for some time, and knows all the key players, political and entrepreneurial. Comparisons to the rum-runners of the Prohibition era are not unfounded. These so-called “pot barons” are all savvy businessmen who have built their empires using tried and true business models. Cash-strapped governments, pharmaceutical companies and other big businesses are well aware of the potential profits, and Canada has been at the forefront of the global movement to legalize medical marijuana and decriminalize the recreational use of the drug. Estimates vary, but it’s thought that nearly a million people in Canada could benefit from medicinal marijuana, yet only about a thousand are currently legally authorized to use it. Many feel that marijuana should be grown, regulated and taxed like any other commodity. Following the evolution of the marijuana trade from rich kids smuggling it in their luggage, to trans-oceanic operations involving tons of dope, to today’s thriving multi-billion-dollar domestic industry, Bud Inc. is a fascinating study of real-life supply-and-demand economics. *November 2003

Bud Inc.: Inside Canada's Marijuana Industry

Business & Money

Industries

Random House Canada

Bud Inc.

Vintage Canada

The true story of three enthusiastic (but inexperienced) adventurers who attempt to become the first team to raft the entire length of the Amazon River–all 4,007 miles--and (barely) live to tell about it. To a trio of twenty-something adrenaline junkies, it sounded like an irresistible challenge: tackle the Amazon with nothing more than a rubber raft between them and fate. But when Colin Angus, Ben Kozel, and Scott Borthwick embarked on their fantastic voyage in September 1999, just climbing to the river’s source nearly killed them. Beginning with the dehydration that nearly did the adventurers in as they hiked the Andes to the river's source, Amazon Extreme is a breathtaking account of the daily challenges, dangers, and triumphs experienced over the course of this five-month expedition. With no money to speak of and inaccurate, fifty-year-old maps to guide them, this intrepid trio manages to persevere through violent rapids, guerilla gunfire, mosquito-infested drinking water, and numerous bouts of sickness. But in spite of several near-death experiences, including one particularly terrifying moment when their raft is toppled in the raging white water, Angus's crew finds a reverence for the compelling beauty that makes this region so renowned. Amidst the hardship are moments of pure pleasure, from graceful dolphins and lush forests to the intriguing, gracious people who’ve made their homes along the riverbank. An inspiring tale of courage and exploration, this is the story of three guys who truly went off the deep end, and one who came back to write a riveting recollection of it.

Amazon Extreme: Three Ordinary Guys, One Rubber Raft and the Most Dangerous River on Earth

Angus, Colin

Water Sports

Broadway

Final Payoff

Seal Books

Unholy terror: The Sikhs and international terrorism

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Key Porter

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